MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The world of marketing is a completely new landscape compared to the one that you may remember from years ago. From the rise and ubiquity of social media to the evolution of data-driven marketing and analytics, the industry has come so far in just the last decade or two. And while it definitely is something to celebrate, it has left many organizations and teams in the field at a crossroads.
How exactly do you respond to the pressure and need to adapt when the team structures and strategies that have worked for decades have now become outdated? After all, it surely takes way more than simply just bolting on new technologies or expanding existing teams here and there, right?
Dennis Perez, Head of Marketing, Philippines & Marketing Transformation Lead, Greater Asia at Unilever Beauty & Wellbeing, seems to think so.
“Marketing is entering a new era of exploration. As Unilever redefines marketing for its brands, I am excited to contribute a fresh perspective by integrating digital, technology, and artificial intelligence into the beauty experiences we create,” he said. “I am eager to delve into the profound possibilities this approach offers.”
So, what exactly is this new perspective he’s bringing to the table? What’s this pathway that he believes can prepare teams for how marketing continues to evolve? Dennis calls it “ArchiTECHture.”
What exactly is ArchiTECHture?
Before Dennis started his decorated career in marketing, he grew up as a son of an architect. As the years passed, it became clear to him just how much those days of watching his father sketch and draft blueprints has shaped who he is as a creative leader.
So, it’s no surprise that he draws from this profession when describing what he believes designing the marketing organization of the future entails. This leaves us with ArchiTECHture – what Dennis calls the approach to building marketing organizations with digital and technology at their core.
Why “demolition” has become crucial
When Dennis introduced the concept of ArchiTECHting at DigiCon 2024, he cited a Harvard Business Review article with a surprising statistic – only 20% of marketers feel like their organization is future-ready.
It begs the question: What are the other 80% doing that has led to a lack of confidence in how their marketing organizations are set up?
In the pursuit of answering this question, Dennis brings up an observation he and his fellow marketing leaders had. There are marketers who, even when they want to adapt to the changing consumer landscape, continue to cling to traditional structures and systems that no longer work the way they used to. They choose to push new offerings or use new tech without really doing a thorough structural intervention of their current systems.
This is one of the many ways ArchiTECHture mirrors the actual construction process. As Dennis put it, “We cannot [build a new, modern building] without first clearing away the old, outdated structure on site.”
“Similarly, in designing the marketing organization of the future, we must dismantle existing frameworks that no longer serve us,” he added. “This will pave the way for a more value-driven and capable organization.”
Retooling, reshaping, and rebuilding
With that being said, it can be daunting for marketers to hear that they need to do a complete overhaul in order to get a clear foundation on which they can design something more future-ready. Many may even hesitate because they believe changes are possible to do in just small amounts – and they’re right.
There are three approaches to transformation after all: retooling, reshaping, and rebuilding.
Retooling is about doing the same thing but differently, like selling the same product through a new channel. This leads to organizational specialization. Meanwhile, by doing the future similarly, like when a brand expands its offerings, reshaping often results in organizational expansion.
For Dennis, though, to truly commit to the process of ArchiTECHting your way to a future-ready organization, you need to be rebuilding. This means to implement significant changes so that your organization can do the future differently, transforming both the “what we do” and “how we do it” simultaneously and aiming for lean specialization.
Putting the future first
So, how does planning for the marketing organizations of the future work with this process?
Well, first of all, like the namesake of the concept, ArchiTECHture calls on marketers to think future-back instead of present-forward.
Think of the construction process. A team doesn’t just start with whatever materials and equipment they have in front of them and decide on what else to change or add at each new stage. The end goal has already been sketched out by the architect, and the team has to craft a plan to achieve that finished product.
Likewise, in ArchiTECHting, you need to have a clear vision of the future and start there when mapping out how exactly to get to that point. By starting with the desired outcome, leaders can avoid being shackled by current constraints and staying attached to traditional systems that no longer work. Instead, they focus specifically on creating the structure and capabilities necessary to support future ambitions.
The foundation begins with your value footprint.
How do you follow through with your future-back journey?
Before anything else, you need your foundation, and to form it, surveying the land is a must. This means determining the footprint and size of your structure by identifying the consumer and business value that you want your organization to offer. Unpack the core of these values to determine what foundational capabilities you need in order to address them.
For instance, one of the things at the center of the consumer values Unilever Beauty & Wellbeing aims to deliver is science. In other words, the brand wants to offer innovative and science-backed skincare and haircare solutions. So, Unilever has taken this into account when defining what capabilities are necessary for them as an organization by investing in medical marketing and beauty technology.
Being able to identify the capabilities you need has become increasingly important too. Dennis believes, after all, that the digital revolution has come to a point where these specialized capabilities are becoming the backbone of future marketing structures, rather than just products, brands, or portfolios.
The heart of it all – the people
After building, naturally, comes the move-in.
Dennis recalled his father saying that a beautiful building without anyone living in it is a mausoleum. Obviously – and rightfully – Dennis agreed with this saying, “Architecture is about designing living and livable structures. ArchiTECHting is all about building living marketing organizations.”
While things like assessing your value footprint and specialization are still important, what transcends this when designing the marketing organization of the future are the people. To him, amid the technicalities of the fast-paced digital revolution and the shifts in the industry, your primary focus should be on the team members that bring what you built to life.
In fact, Dennis posits that the six principles of architecture also apply to bringing people in your structure. He put it this way:
- Balance: Form a team equipped with skills for both the now and the future.
- Proportion: Make sure the right person is placed in the right job.
- Scale: The structure’s size and layers need to reflect the scope and goals of your value footprint
- Movement: For people to thrive, there must be clear pathways for career growth embedded into the structure.
- Rhythm: Even with individual specializations in place, teams must maintain a dynamic flow of collaboration and learning.
- Unity: Shared values and culture fuse specializations, no matter how diverse or how future-forward they are.
It’s clear that, for Dennis, the future of marketing organizations isn’t just built – it’s inhabited. In the same way that at the heart of his father’s designs were people and how these structures would impact their lives, Dennis believes that people are the heart of any digital transformation.
The concept of ArchiTECHture challenges us to think of the marketing organizations of the future not just in terms of what technological capabilities it needs but also in terms of it being a living, breathing ecosystem with intention, adaptability and human values at their core.
It’s time to ArchiTECHt a world where marketing doesn’t just respond to change – it anticipates it and brings it to life. So, the foundation is yours to lay, the structure yours to shape, and as Dennis said, let’s start the building today.
The post The future of marketing organizations according to Dennis Perez: Why it’s time to demolish, rebuild, and start ArchiTECHting appeared first on adobo Magazine Online.